Where Are the Night Animals? (Let'S-Read-And-Find-Out Science. Stage 1)

Describes various nocturnal animals and their nighttime activities, including the opossum, brown bat, and tree frog

PreSchool-Grade 2-Two useful series entries. Night Animals features colorful descriptions of familiar nocturnal creatures such as the skunk, raccoon, and bat. The terms "diurnal" and "nocturnal" are defined, and there are brief explanations of how and why some species have adapted to nighttime activity. The final pages tell where these animals sleep during the day and suggest activities for further discovery. Pfeffer begins with examples of sounds, such as finger snapping, and progresses to an explanation of how the vocal cords and ear bones vibrate. Echolocation, sound waves, sonar, and even decibels are covered with clear, concrete examples. There are many interesting tidbits about animals, such as how snakes hear by putting their heads against the ground. Activities listed at the end of the book would be fun to try at home or at school. Both books have excellent, attractive illustrations. Any library in need of updating its science collection would do well with these titles.
Jackie Hechtkopf, Talent House School, Fairfax, VA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

PLB 0-06-027718-1 paper 0-06-445176-3 This Stage 1 entry in the Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science series focuses on eight common nocturnal creatures, from the barn owl to the harvest mouse. Each animal is introduced through a simple action: coyote hunts, opossum munches berries, tree frog calls to its mate with a ``Kreck-ek, kreck-ek.'' The text is curiously disrupted by a middle spread of the dawn and definitions of the terms diurnal and nocturnal; the nighttime animals run for cover, but on the next page, readers are returned to sunset and the examination of those animals resumes. Fraser then emphasizes their interrelatedness: skunk sprays coyote for coming too close, barn owl snatches up mouse, raccoon snatches a crayfish, brown bat seeks out insects. A final spread shows morning, where a pajama-wearing child and raccoon meet through a window glass as ``the night shift ends. The day shift begins.'' Naturalistic illustrations provide stills of each animal against deep blues, teals, and aquamarines; endnotes explain where nocturnal animals hide during the day. (Picture book. 3-6) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.